What are the options a fashion brand must consider for a winning O2O strategy?
Fashion brands don’t have to be afraid of O2O operations. Today fashion consumers are looking for experiences. Then, if brands want to have more traffic in their shops they need to create this kind of experience and communicate on social media to relate the event. Shops are still important for fashion shoppers. According to a recent study, 30% of the e-commerce buyers valid their purchase with a visit in shops. Then, 63% of the buyers will increase the amount of their buying thanks to a visit on a e-commerce website. Online need to boost the offline and vice versa. Here are some good examples of O2O operations that can be led.
The Click-and-collect operation
This one is the most easiest one. A customer look for a product online, buy it and then stop by the brand shop to pick up the items. New Look, the English fast fashion fashion company allow its customers to buy products online and pick them up in shop. Thanks to this operation, they saw their turnover increased.
The brand is also on all part trying to make the shopping easier for its customers; whether it’s mobile shopping, an easiest check out at the desktop, the development of a next-day delivery and so on…
Use WeChat as the best digital tool for O2O strategy in China
WeChat enables brands in and near their physical stores to communicate with customers. Brands can send push-notifications with promotional content or news specifically geared toward this customer. If he received it maybe he will stopped by the shop.
Louis Vuitton already developed this kind of operation and sent messages to customers where they were close to one of their boutiques.
The other digital tools you can use to build your O2O strategy in China
Retailers can provide in shops some tablets and digital screens. This allows the retailer to show all of the inventory and push the clients to subscribe to its WeChat and/or Weibo accounts.
Shops can used smart fitting rooms that will let customers see themselves in a lot of different clothes. It can also increase the additional sales by proposing different products. Some of these fitting rooms allows the shoppers to send and share pictures to their friends. It’s one of the best innovation we’ve seen for fashion brands these latest year.
What others O2O operations fashion brands can do to increase the shopping experience?
A fashion brand must also allow its customers to pay via applications like WeChat within shops. Social media is the best “raw material” of the shopping experience in China. WeChat is one of the pillars of this tendency but you have to use all the features of the app in order to be efficient.
China is now in the era of Internet thinking, and Internet has become the mainstream media that has changed the media landscape and the way Chinese customers buy and inform themselves. For them, it’s totally normal to pay using an app within a store. Fashion brands must understand it and adapt their strategy in this way.
Is it better to do some offline to online or online to offline operation?
To generate some sales, the O2O operations must occur from the retail store in order to have impacts on the online sales. It’s going to be way much easier than leveraging your TMall or JD.com online shop to increase the shops turnover. When customers do physical shopping, they will always look at reviews and promotions online to purchase the best offer they can find for the item they want. It’s offline to online strategy.
Some Chinese customers don’t have time to do shopping in physical stores and prefer to shop only online, but luxury consumers are seeking for the real shopping and customer experience in physical boutique. Here the phygital strategy is online to offline ; customers want to be sure of the product they want before coming in store.
Find an agency to develop your O2O strategy in China
If Chinese consumers are doing more and more online shopping, the retail is not dead but need to be rethink. The online to offline or offline to online strategies must be considered by brands as it’s one of the best way to get more traffic inside shops or develop a fan base on social media.
Then, if you’re looking to develop your presence on social media or organize some O2O operations to attract more consumers in your shop you can contact us! We have the experience of digital marketing, we are passionate about China and its culture; make sure you will succeed in China with a tailor-made strategy adapted to your brand. We have a lot of luxury and fashion brands as clients and partners, you can read more about our case studies here, don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your project in China!
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1 comment
Dodo Mkg
Hello, do you have an article on the “Click-and-Collect” detailed strategy, please? I am interested in it for my own brand